Andy Capostagno Rugby A few weeks ago I was lamenting the fact that after a promising beginning the Currie Cup had gone a little flat. Anyone who saw Sunday’s 24-17 win for Free State over Western Province at Newlands may well have concurred. We have reached that stage of the season where results are far […]
Mungo Soggot The Supreme Court of Appeal has ushered in a new era of press freedom with a ruling that journalists can escape liability for false and defamatory facts by showing they were reasonable or careful. The landmark judgment in favour of City Press will release South African journalists from a long list of rulings […]
#Ferial Haffajee `I’ve got an aunty like that!” hooted a member of the audience at a recent Johannesburg performance of A Coloured Place, the side-splitting play that has brought its twentysomething writer/director Lueen Conning into the cultural limelight. Side-splitting, that is, until you think a little and then the reflection sets in. “It’s too close […]
Belinda Beresford Something is rotten in the state of South African business. The legacy of the old South Africa has been disrespect for the law and a culture of entitlement, and the past influences the present. Ahead of the latest round of awards to companies that do business honestly and openly, some of the seedier […]
Tim Radford European scientists are to build an antimatter factory at Cern, the European nuclear research laboratory in Geneva. But even though antimatter would be the perfect fuel – 200 times more efficient than thermonuclear fusion – it may be some time before they have made enough to boldly go with Captain Kirk and Dr […]
Bop Broadcasting’s latest audit has revealed major financial discrepancies, reports Mungo Soggot The Office of the Auditor General has rejected the Bophuthatswana Broadcasting Corporation’s 1997 accounts after uncovering possible fraud involving millions of rand, widespread mismanagement and a breakdown of its financial systems. In a report signed off on July 21, the finance watchdog said […]
Robert McCrum talks to his long-time friend Salman Rushdie as he emerges from the shadow of the fatwa `I didn’t expect to survive,” says Salman Rushdie. “I didn’t expect to live.” We are sitting alone in the office of anti-censorship group Article 19’s director, Frances D’Souza, in the aftermath of a sweaty press conference at […]
October is welfare month, with activities planned around the country. But do we need it, asks Black Sash pension campaigner Rosemary Smith When the Roman authorities wanted to appease the populace, they laid on bread and circuses. The Department of Welfare’s planned activities for welfare month in October smack of circuses. Is it the right […]
Belinda Beresford Soon Christmas decorations will be out in the shopping malls heralding the advance of the festive season – and for many the much-needed end-of-year bonuses. But ignore retailers’ attempts to whip up the annual Christmas spending frenzy. The best present you can buy is for yourself: use any extra money to pay off […]
Samuel L Jackson has played some seedy lowlifes in his time, yet we love him. It’s the drawling charm, the cool … But don’t be fooled: this is a man who kicked a 20-year drug habit to vie with Hollywood’s aristos. And he’s not done yet, writes Jim Shelley Now that his name has started […]